Lookin for Love in all the Wrong Places
by mabelreid
Summary: The girls decide that Reid needs someone in his life, without consulting him first.
1. The Plot

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_A/n hey all, my beta gave me this idea and Adele really liked it, so please enjoy. This follow cannon up to now._**

**_The Plot _**

Emily wrapped a fluffy white towel around her head and straightened up. She tucked the free end under the back edge and adjusted the second towel she'd wrapped around her torso. She turned and joined JJ and Garcia, who were similarly attired, on wooden slat benches.

"This was an excellent idea after a long day." Garcia said, as she lifted her arms and stretched. "Oh, I'm so beat."

JJ sat back and sighed long and loud as steam billowed around them. "I agree. I have knots on the knots in my back. The only thing better than a good steam would be a massage."

"At least you two have someone at home that might be willing to give you one." Emily frowned. "I wish…" She abruptly went quiet and closed her eyes.

"Hey," Garcia began, "just because I've got a guy doesn't mean its all roses and neck massages."

Emily opened one eye and peered over at her friend. Garcia's eyes were closed, her golden curls were tucked up under a towel and sweat slid down her forehead and cheeks.

"What's wrong PG?" JJ asked, before Emily could voice the same question.

"It's nothing, really." Garcia said. "It's just that Kevin's not the kind of guy that cuddles. He's more likely to just turn over and go to sleep if you know what I mean."

JJ smirked over at Emily. "TMI Garcia," she laughed.

Garcia opened her eyes and grimaced. Emily couldn't tell if her friend's face was going red because of the steam, or because of her comments about Kevin.

"Don't get me wrong," her friend said desperately. "I love him; it's just that, oh boy I better shut up. This isn't what I planned on talking about in here."

JJ smirked beneath her towel wrapped head. "Trust me; you're not the first woman to say that about her man."

"JJ, I don't think -"

"Will is the best, but he has his faults. As a matter of fact, the other day when he was in the kitchen getting Henry his breakfast -"

"JJ!"

The blonde profiler jumped a little. "You don't have to shout Emily."

"Do we really have to have this conversation right now?"

JJ grinned at her. "What else are we supposed to talk about in here? We're friends, we've had a rotten couple of days and we're taking a well-deserved steam bath. We're supposed to be relaxing that includes talking about men and sex."

Emily rolled her eyes and shifted a bit on the bench as more sweat dribbled down her back and into her cleavage. "That's fine for you, but I don't have a guy." She reminded them irritably.

"Fine, we'll talk about something else like Hotch's new lady friend. I hope we get to meet her." Garcia said excitedly.

Emily giggled, "You're acting like she's first woman Hotch's ever been with."

"I don't think he's 'been with' her yet." JJ observed as Garcia guffawed.

"Stop it right now. I don't want that image in my head. You know what I mean." Emily pleaded. "He just met her for God's sake!"

JJ and Garcia smirked at each other. "Are you jealous?" Garcia inquired as she used one end of the towel around her torso to wipe her face.

"I'm not jealous! Hotch is - well he's too uptight for me. It'd be too much trouble trying to get him to loosen his tie. I don't have that much time."

JJ burst out laughing and her towel fell off her head. "On that note, I think I'm done. If I stay in here much longer, I'm going to dehydrate completely."

Garcia stood up, swayed, and then sat down again. "Whoa…I think you're right about getting out of here."

"You okay PG?" JJ asked holding out an arm to her friend and pulling her upright.

"I'm fine, just a little dizzy. I'm also starving. Steam baths really get my appetite going."

Emily stood up and opened the door. Cold, refreshing air pulled the steam out of the room. They all took in deep breaths as they left. It was wonderful after all the heat and the sweating, Emily thought.

Emily unwrapped her hair. "I'm going to take a quick shower before I change."

"So what do you guys think about this Beth person?" Garcia asked as they went to their lockers and began pulling out clothes.

"I think it's great." JJ commented as she grabbed another towel from the racks on the wall. "It's about time he got back into the dating game. It's been a couple of years. He needs someone in his life."

"JJ's right," Garcia interjected while unwrapping her hair. "I see so many people in my counseling group that have lost a husband or a wife and they just don't know how to move on. They are stuck and can't see it when they start moving through their grief to the other side. It's like their pain becomes a part of them and they begin to depend on it."

Emily nodded, lifted her towel and followed the girls to the white tile shower stalls at one end of the locker room. She chose the last on the left and stepped inside.

A few minutes later, they were drying off and dressing when Garcia picked up the thread of their conversation. "I just hope this Beth woman doesn't break his heart."

"Aren't you getting ahead of yourself again?" Emily pointed out as she put on her bra. "It's their first date."

"I just don't want him to be hurt again."

"Let's not borrow trouble." JJ agreed, slipping into her deep, violet blouse.

"Alright, then let's talk about something else. What about Reid? He doesn't have anyone. We all have someone, except for Morgan and Rossi. Rossi's still in mourning and Morgan is Morgan. Oh, and you of course," Garcia said, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"Thanks for reminding me." Emily snapped as she pulled on her navy blue slacks.

"I didn't mean it like that." Garcia said. "I just think my sweet cheeks need a woman."

"I don't like where this conversation is going." Emily said, buttoning her shirt.

"You know as well as I do, that Reid spends all of his time alone when he's not with us. It's not healthy. I'm sure if we put our minds to it, we could find someone great for him."

Garcia pulled her dress over her head and reached around the back to draw up her zipper. "I can think of a couple of people that would be perfect for him."

"Don't you think we should think about this before we do something that he'll hate us for," Emily said. "Remember that he's not too happy with you and me," she pointed at JJ. "Do you honestly think he'll just jump for joy at such a plan?"

No one spoke until they'd finished getting dressed and packing up their gear. "I still think we should try." JJ said. She held up a hand when Emily started to speak. "We're responsible for causing him so much pain. I just want to do something to make it up to him."

"You want to get Reid laid? That's your way of saying you're sorry." Emily asked with raised eyebrows as they left the locker room.

Garcia giggled and JJ glared at her. "That's not what I meant, although that would be a handy side benefit if it works."

"JJ!" Emily slapped her shoulder.

"You look me in the eye and tell me you don't think Reid needs someone in his life. He won't go out and actively look, so we need to do it for him."

"I refuse to go along with this crazy plan." Emily said as she poked the button to summon the elevator.

"Why?"

Emily flicked her eyes back to Garcia. "Because it's none of our business."

Garcia gave JJ a look, who shrugged her shoulders. "What're you looking at each like that for?" Emily demanded.

"We're just wondering if there's some reason you don't want Reid dating anyone."

"That's not what I said. I think it's got disaster written all over it. He doesn't need us poking around in his private life and you know it."

"We're not suggesting that we ambush him with the idea. We'll handle it more subtly than that, trust me." Garcia cooed.

"You, subtle," Emily giggled. "Isn't that a contradiction in terms?"

The elevator doors opened and JJ got on first as Garcia glared at Emily. "All right," she threw up her hands as Emily followed her into the car. "You're right about me and subtly. What can I say? I just want him to be happy."

"Did you ever think he might be happy right now?" Emily asked as JJ pushed the button for the lobby level.

JJ and Garcia both stared her down until she shrugged in resignation. "Fine, I give up. I'll help you out with this crazy plan. Just don't blame me if this backfires."


	2. Reluctant Romeo

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_Reluctant Romeo _**

"How was your weekend, pretty boy?"

Reid did not look up from the file on his desk. He grunted and flipped over a crime scene photo from a murder in Mississippi. "Why do you ask me that when you know I never have any plans?"

"I'm always hopeful you'll find the right lady."

Reid flipped over another page from his file folder. "Why don't you tell me about your weekend? You want to brag, so go for it."

Morgan leaned up against Emily's desk. "Hey, don't get snippy Reid. I'm just curious."

Reid's eyes finally left his consult. "I'm not getting snippy. I'm just telling you that you're never going to get a different answer from me. Even if I did have plans, I wouldn't talk about it. It's none of your business."

Morgan raised his eyebrows. "It's too early on a Monday morning for you to be so grouchy."

Reid drew in a breath and let it out slowly so that he didn't lose his temper. He always ran this same gauntlet every Monday morning with Morgan; it wasn't as if anything was going to change.

"I'm going to Garcia's office."

He left Morgan standing there with grin on his face, headed down the hallway to Garcia's office, and entered when she called out, "Enter if you seek knowledge."

Garcia sat in front of her beloved computers, typing away as if her whole existence depended on her babies.

"Good morning Garcia."

She turned and favored him with a sunny smile that he returned automatically. It was simply impossible to feel bad when in her presence. "Hello my junior G-man. What brings you to my bat cave?"

Her blonde hair lay in ringlet across her shoulders, while the sides were pulled back on her head with two hairpins made from white and pink sequins in the shapes of daisies. Her glasses were pink framed, and her lipstick matched the sequins. He decided he liked her hot pink dress paired with a bright yellow waist length jacket. Her hot pink pumps were decorated with white daisies with yellow centers.

"I need some help with this serial murder in Mississippi. The detective sent me up some names, but I'm trying to weed out what he's got with the profile. Can you get me everything you find on these eight men?"

"No problem sugar. I'll get right on it."

"Thanks… Um, I'll see you later."

"Hey, where are you going so fast? I thought we could have a little talk. It's been awhile since we had a good heart-to-heart."

He stopped turning for the door to frown at her. She was so perceptive it was scary and annoying at the same time. Still, he found his mouth opening to spill his guts. "Morgan's been bugging me about dating again."

Garcia nodded knowingly. "Well it is Monday morning. What did you expect?"

"I don't know… I guess I thought he'd get tired of the games."

Garcia patted the only other chair in the room as the reflections of her screens danced off her glasses. "You should know better than that."

"He has his own office. Why doesn't he go there and leave me alone?"

She kept her mouth from smirking only because she knew what a pain in the ass Morgan could be when prying into the lives of his friends. God knew how often he inquired about Kevin, wanting to know if he was treating her right.

"I'll grant you that Morgan doesn't know when to quit."

"Maybe you could talk to him." Reid suggested as he kept his eyes on her shoes.

"I have a better idea."

Reid looked up at the enthusiasm in her voice and felt his stomach knot up. "I'm afraid to ask."

Garcia reached over and patted his arm. "I was thinking that I know someone that's perfect for you."

He jumped up as if he'd sat on a porcupine. "I don't want to go on a blind date."

He could see that his so-called friend as trying not to laugh at his squeaking voice. "Do you doubt me Reid?"

Even though her dark eyes were dancing, he thought her tone suggested that she might be a little irritated with him. He swallowed past the lump in his throat and went back to his chair. "I don't want to go out with someone I've never met. What if -"

He broke off and resumed staring down at her daisies, which seemed to look up at him like an accusation.

Garcia reached out and took one of his hands. "Trust me sweet cheeks. There's no way she won't like you."

He decided not to ask how she knew exactly what he was thinking. "I just don't think this is a good idea."

"Don't worry so much," Garcia, said squeezing his shaking hand. "Megan is a sweetheart. She's part of my grief counseling group and she's very nice."

"Oh man," he yanked his hand from her grip and jumped out of his seat again. "I can't go out on a blind date with a woman from a grief counseling group. What if she compares me to her lost husband all night?"

Garcia had stood up too. She pushed a hand that smelled like lilacs against his mouth. "I never said she was there because of her husband. Megan is divorced. Her seven year old son was killed by drunk driver three years ago."

"Oh…"

"Is that all the genius can say is 'oh'" Garcia wanted to know.

"Okay, I jumped to the wrong conclusion. That's how freaked out I am by all of this."

He wanted to wring his hands, but sat on them instead. Garcia sat down too and returned to her typing so that he was looking at her profile. "She's very pretty and she has a great sense of humor."

"Oh man, you know I don't get most of your jokes." He said, still looking frantically for a way out of this disaster. 'What if I don't get her jokes? She's going to think I'm weird."

"You'll do fine."

Garcia turned around to face him again with another, warm as the sun, smile on her face.

"You're the sweetest, kindest, gentlest man I know. It's not a hardship looking at you, either."

He felt his face go red. "Don't make fun of me."

Her dark eyes flashed angrily. "I'm not making fun of you. You're extremely good looking. If you don't believe that, I can't convince you. You're just going to have to take my word for it."

"Okay, I'll do it." He gave in because it was impossible to say no to Penelope Garcia. He'd tried it once… and found out that she was the most stubborn of all the team.

"You won't regret it," she informed him happily. "I promise you'll have a good time."

"I hope you're right," he said frowning deeply.

"Just one thing," she stopped him as he was about to get up. "Megan was hurt in the accident. She walks with a cane and she's really self conscious about it."

"If that's the only flaw she has, I'll consider myself lucky."

"It's going to be fine."

He turned for the door again. He found his feet hesitating before his hand found the doorknob. "Garcia?"

"What?"

She left her chair when he didn't respond to her. He was just staring back at her as he did when he didn't understand one of her jokes.

"Do you really think this is a good idea?"

"It's a good idea," she assured him. "Look, there's no guarantee this is true love Reid."

He felt heat creep up in his face again. "I didn't think that," he squeaked.

"Then go away," she ordered pushing him toward the door.

"Garcia I -"

"It's just a first date Reid. Don't expect so much. Just try to have fun for once."

He opened his mouth to tell that he had fun, every once in a while, usually when he beat someone at chess, but he closed it again when she pointed at the door and said. "March!"

"I'm going."

He left the office and couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face. He agreed to this crazy plan because of his friend, but maybe it would be okay.

* * *

><p>Megan Christophe limped to her desk when her cell phone began to buzz impatiently. It should be off, but she'd long ago stopped trying to get out of the habit of leaving it on in case someone needed to get in touch with her about Tommy. He was gone, but she still left the phone on vibrate when she was working.<p>

"Hello," she said distractedly.

"_It's Penelope." _

"Oh hello Pen, listen I was just on my way -"

"_I talked to the guy I work with, you know, the one I told you about after our last meeting." _

Megan sat down with a groan and a sigh. "I told you I'm not ready for dating yet Penelope."

"_He's the perfect guy. He's sweet, and kind and smart. He's drop dead gorgeous too." _

Megan brushed a strand of light brown hair out of her face. Her ponytail was coming down. It had been a long day and it was only just before lunch. "If he's so perfect, why is he single?"

"_Well, he's a little shy." _

Megan heaved out another annoyed sigh. "That's all I need is a shy guy. I'm not exactly an extrovert Pen. I'm not like you."

"_He likes books."_

"So what, lots of people like books."

"_You work in a library Megan. He reads books by the hundreds. I'll bet you have lots to talk about." _

Despite her misgivings, Megan began warming up to the idea. She liked a man that read books. She'd met her ex in bookstore after all.

"Alright, I'll do it."

"_I knew you would. His name is Dr. Spencer Reid. He's thirty years old and he dresses a bit like a teacher's aide stuck in the seventies." _

"Sounds interesting," Megan, said sarcastically.

"_Don't worry. I said he was hot and I meant it. His style of dress suits him very well." _

"I'll take your word for it."

"_You won't be sorry Megan. I know what I'm doing." _

"I said I'd do it."

"_You'll love him Megan. He's a wonderful man." _

"Alright, you don't have to sell me on him. When is this momentous meeting taking place?"

"_I'll call you back later with the details." _

Megan said goodbye and put her phone back on her desk. She looked over the stacks of books she needed to categorize, and sighed. Her leg was aching and she had at least four hours of work ahead of her. Well, she'd go get something for lunch and then she'd get back to work. Perhaps it would keep her mind off this date she'd agreed to against her better judgment.


	3. Wouldn't you just know it?

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_Wouldn't you just know it?_**

Megan fidgeted with the gold tennis bracelet she'd decided to wear to her date. It had always looked best with her rose suit. The trouble was that the suit jacket was a little snug. She'd put on a few pounds since the accident. She wasn't as active as she'd used to be with her injured leg.

She looked down at her matching shoes and the cane she had to use. Would Dr. Reid run in the other direction when he saw her? She adjusted her watch, looking at the time as she moved it on her wrist. It was five minutes away from the agreed time to meet. Her heart started pounding in her throat. Perhaps this wasn't a good idea after all. Was it fair to make Dr. Reid her rebound relationship?

She shook her head. To be thinking about a relationship was a little premature. It was just a cup of coffee, not a declaration of love. She ordered herself to calm down and stop freaking out. It had been a while, but she could do this.

* * *

><p>Reid opened the door to the little coffee shop near the library where Megan worked. She lived and worked in Arlington so he'd never been to borrow books there. Maybe if everything went well, he'd visit her at work.<p>

_Slow down_… _This is just coffee! _

He looked around the room for the woman Garcia had described to him. His eyes found her sitting at a corner table. Her hair, shining under the lights, reminded him of caramel candy. Her eyes were on the table so he couldn't see if they were blue, as Garcia had told him. He liked the color of her jacket and skirt. Would she expect him to comment on her clothes? Oh, he didn't know that much about complimenting girls on their clothes. What if he offended her by not saying the right thing?

The door opened behind him and someone cleared his or her throat. He moved out of the way as a very large man with a bushy beard down to the middle of his chest pushed by. "Sorry," Reid mumbled and the man only grunted at him.

Well, running away wasn't the answer because he'd have to face Garcia eventually. If he stood up her friend, she might dump some kind of bizarre, untraceable virus into his work computer. He shuddered at the thought, straightened his shoulders and strode determinedly to the table where Megan sat.

"Um, hi," he said a little breathlessly.

She lifted her head and stared up at him with something that resembled shock and appreciation. She didn't say anything and he suddenly thought that maybe he'd got it wrong and there was another woman with light brown hair, eyes the color of good whiskey and a cane.

"You look just like Penny described you."

He blinked, "Um, so do you. I'm Dr. Reid, I mean Spencer Reid."

She was holding out a hand, and he had no choice but to shake it even thought his palms were clammy and cool.

"It's nice to meet you. Why don't you sit down?"

He took the seat directly across from her. "Thanks."

Neither spoke, so the awkward moment he always hated when he met new people and he couldn't think of anything to say, drew out painfully. He blurted out, "Did you know that 83% of adults have been out on blind dates set up by their friends? About 27% of those dates results in second dates and -"

He abruptly broke off and nearly fled. What was he doing sitting there spouting off statistics to a woman he barely met? _She's going to think I'm nuts, _he thought unhappily.

"That's interesting Dr. Reid. Tell me, do you always talk like that?"

He slid his eyes back up to her face. She wasn't laughing but her eyes were amused. "Sorry, I tend to ramble when I'm nervous."

"Well, it's better than sitting here in awkward silence, don't you think?"

He decided he liked it when she smiled. Her eyes crinkled and danced when she did and it made little butterflies fly around in his stomach.

"I guess you're right," he agreed.

"Penelope told me that you're some kind of FBI profiler. What does a profiler do?"

He described his job to her in very broad terms. He couldn't go into specifics of his cases so the explanations didn't take very long.

"It sounds so exciting."

He decided not to tell her about the so-called exciting parts of his job, like being shot or addicted to a powerful narcotic. He didn't want to scare her off.

"It has its moments," he decided to say instead. "Garcia said you work in a county library. I love books."

"It's the only thing I ever wanted to do when I was a kid. I have access to all the books I want and that's the best benefit of all."

He smiled widely, feeling happy and not nervous for the first time since walking in. "Um, do you want some coffee, or maybe a muffin?"

"Nothing to eat, but coffee with cream and sugar would be okay. I don't really like anything fancy like cappuccinos and stuff."

"Neither do I," Reid agreed. "I'll be right back."

Because it was six in the evening on a Tuesday, it didn't take him long to get their orders and go back to the table. She waited for him with a smile. He really liked her eyes. They reminded him of a girl he'd known in graduate school that he'd always been too afraid to approach.

"What are you thinking?"

He jumped a little at her question and felt his face get a little hot for staring at her. "I - I was just thinking… um I -"

Morgan would say this was the perfect time for him to say that he thought her eyes were beautiful, but saying it was tougher than thinking it.

"Um," he took in a deep breath and decided that fortune favors the bold. "I was thinking that you have beautiful eyes."

It was her turn to go pink in the cheeks. "You're sweet Spencer. Look, I don't know how much Penelope told you."

"I know you're divorced and you lost your son in an accident with a drunk driver."

She nodded as tears collected in her eyes. "Actually, tomorrow is the third anniversary of his death. I just wanted you to know because I might be a little distracted."

He nodded and smiled, "its okay. I like just sitting here and talking with you."

She smiled back and sat up straighter in her seat. Penny had been right, she thought. He did have an odd sense of fashion, but she decided she liked the light blue dress shirt he wore under a navy blue and white sweater vest, a navy blue tie with white polka dots at the knot and matching trousers. He'd removed a matching coat and purple scarf that she decided she really liked because it brought out his puppy dog brown eyes.

"What are you thinking?"

She raised her eyes to his face. "I like your eyes too."

"Megan!"

Reid jumped again at the male voice just over his shoulder. He looked around to see a man about five ten standing behind them staring at his date.

"David, what are you doing here?"

Reid's eyes flicked back to Megan who was going scarlet in the face. "Who are you?" He demanded of the man.

"I'm her husband. Who are you?"

"He's my ex husband. We've only been divorced for a year. Go away David and don't make a scene."

Reid noticed that the man standing there drawing the attention of the few patrons in the café with them. He had a twisted scar that ran down from the middle of his forehead, down his nose then it veered off across his right cheek to his ear. His eyes were bright blue and he had graying blonde hair.

"Please, I just need to talk to you Megan. I stopped at the library and Shawn said you were here. I'm sorry to interrupt you, but you know what day it is tomorrow and I just need to talk to you." He pleaded.

"You go ahead," Reid heard his voice say.

"No, I'm not going to let my ex-husband ruin our date."

"It's okay," Reid could see unbearable pain in David's eyes that he recognized from his mirror at home.

Megan looked back and forth between him and David. He could see in her eyes that there was something still there for her husband. He sighed and smiled at her. "It's okay."

"I have your number from Penelope. Maybe we can do something else another time. It's just that this is a really bad time. I really wanted to spend time with you I do like you. I just feel like I have to go."

"I like you to," he said honestly.

Megan got up, grabbed her cane and limped out after looking back once over shoulder at Reid who gave her a little wave. He watched her leave, leaning on the other guys arm and wondered why people that still loved each other couldn't work things out before they signed the divorce papers.

He stayed at the café for an hour sipping at his increasingly cold coffee and thinking. He must have set a record for the shortest blind date in history. There was no way Morgan would let him live this one down for the rest of his natural life.


	4. You Can't Win for Losing

_**Disclaimer: see my profile**_

_**You can't Win for Losing **_

By eleven am the next morning, Reid had had enough of Morgan and Garcia trying to get the details of his date. Garcia knew the outcome because Megan had called her, but Morgan didn't and he was trying to get it out of both of them. Fortunately, Garcia knew what to say to keep Morgan in his office, but it still bothered Reid that everyone knew about his disastrous date. If only he'd stood his ground and had never let Garcia talk him into it in the first place. Well, he'd know better next time.

His head was full of these thoughts as he rounded the corner from a trip to the men's room and nearly collided with JJ.

"Hey Spence," her cobalt blue eyes smiled as brightly as her mouth.

"Sorry JJ, wasn't looking where I was going."

He noticed another woman with wavy, copper hair and brilliant green eyes stood next to JJ. She was a few inches taller than his friend and wore a very conservative navy blue suit with matching shoes.

"It's okay, Jana and I were just on our way back from lunch. She's an old friend from school that just moved down here."

"Oh, um, nice to meet you," he gave her one of his little waves.

"This is Dr. Spencer Reid."

Her eyebrows went up. "It's nice to meet you Dr. Reid. Jennifer talks about you all the time."

"She does?"

"Not as much as Jana says," JJ disagreed, but her smile widened a bit. "As a matter of fact, I was just saying that we should get together and do something tonight. Garcia and Kevin are joining us and I don't want Jana to be the fifth wheel. Why don't you come with us Spence?"

Both the women were staring at him as he gulped. "I don't think so. I really don't -"

"Come on, it'll be fun. We'll go see a movie or something. I haven't been to a movie theater in forever."

"JJ, don't pressure him if he doesn't want to go. I'm fine on my own."

Reid decided that he liked this Jana for saying what he wanted to say. She was his new best friend, in fact.

"Don't give him an excuse. He never gets out."

"JJ!"

"I'm sorry Spence; I just want you to have some fun for a change. Come on, I promise we'll all have a good time together."

He noticed that Jana had given JJ an odd look and against his better judgment, he decided that going out on another blind date might not be so bad. He was fairly sure that Jana didn't have an ex husband hanging about to interrupt and she posed a mystery to him that he needed to explore.

"Alright, I'll go with you guys."

JJ winked at her friend and they all continued down the hallway to the bank of elevators. They passed by Anderson and Reid almost laughed at the way the other agent gaped at JJ's beautiful friend. In a way he sort of wished that Morgan was here to see Jana.

"Hey Spence," JJ was saying.

"Sorry, what?"

"You'll have to excuse him," she directed to her friend. "He tends to get lost in his head every once in a while."

"That's okay. I'll bet your job consumes all your concentration."

He felt his face getting hot. He pulled at the edge of his sleeve. "I wasn't thinking about work. I was just wondering how JJ talked me into this blind date."

It was JJ's turn to go pink in the cheeks. "Come on Spence, you know I'd never put you in a position to -"

He stopped and held up his hand to cut off her explanation. "I know you'd never hurt me unless it was for the good of someone else like Emily."

"Spence…"

He liked seeing her so uncomfortable, even if it was petty. "I know JJ, don't worry about me. I'm not mad at you anymore. We're fine." He left her standing there with her friend and hurried back to work.

CMCMCMCM

The next thing Reid knew he was sitting in a theater auditorium with brand new blue plaid seats that tilted back. He wondered why anyone wanted to tilt back in a theater with a movie playing. It's not like you would deliberately go to sleep.

"Are you sure this movie's okay with you?" Kevin was saying to all of them.

"It's fine… I like Sherlock Holmes." Garcia said as she took his hand and squeezed it tight.

"Me too," Will said, winding his arm around JJ's shoulders. "I've been looking forward to this for a few months."

JJ laughed, "He loves all the Conan Doyle books."

"Well, this is a bit of a different take on Holmes and Watson, but I like it," he drawled.

Jana looked over at Reid who sat between her and JJ. He nudged the huge pail of popcorn he'd bought in her direction. She shook her head, "I'll wait until movie starts."

He shrugged and reached in for a handful. He set the tub down on the floor between them and thought hard for something to say. He knew what he wanted to ask her, but he was trying hard these days not to just blurt out what he thought to anyone.

"Thanks for joining us." Jana said softly as the rest of their group chatted while the before the movie entertainment played out on the screen.

"It's okay, I understand." He cut his eyes over to JJ and then looked back at Jana.

Jana flicked her eyes away and began pulling off the black coat she'd put on over a gold sweater, and black jeans. Her wavy red hair was fluffed out around her face that reminded him of roses and cream.

She laid her coat on top of his on the empty chair next to her and finally looked back at JJ again, then met his eyes. He could see she wanted to deny what he already knew, but she couldn't say the words.

"How did you know?" She said very quietly.

"I'm a profiler, it's my job and most of the time I have a terrible time shutting it off."

"You're not mad at me."

He shook his head. "The girls think they're so clever trying to set me up with someone, but honestly -"

He threw up his hands unable to say what he really wanted. Jana grinned at him. "I understand now why JJ says you're easy to confide in and why she made you Henry's godfather. You're sweet and you're in love with someone else."

"Are you sure you're not a profiler too," he giggled.

"No, I just know what it's like to love someone you can't have."

The lights suddenly went down and JJ grabbed his arm. "Stop whispering you two. The movie's about to start."

He sat back and watched the previews begin to run. His eyes flicked over to Jana who was staring straight ahead at the screen. She was right about one thing. He wished that someone else sat next to him.

CMCMCMCM

Reid followed Jana into one of DC's newest clubs named "Echo." They'd left the others behind and Reid supposed that they were all speculating on what was happening now, but he didn't care.

He pulled off his coat and scarf as they scanned the huge open room for a place to sit. A large, golden chandelier with electric candles dominated the room done in gold and jade tones. The long, cedar wood bar formed a u-shape at one side of the room and left the platform for the grand piano in the center of the room. The tables carried the green and gold theme with velvet upholstered chairs and table cloths with matching napkins. Booths lined the northern walls and were lit with art deco style gold fixtures in the shape of sea shells.

They took one of the booths near the front window that took up most of the southern side of the room only broken by the entrance doors set at the exact center of the wall. The black of night pressed in on them, but Reid thought it was beautiful because at least it wasn't snowing.

"So, what do you think your friends are saying about us now?" Jana asked.

"I'm sure they're speculating that we can't wait to be alone together."

"Well, they are right in one regard. I can't wait to ask you how in the world you knew that I… well I can't say I'm used to saying it out loud."

A waitress approached wearing a white shirt a jade vest, matching skirt and high heeled black shoes. Reid ordered a beer, but Jana only shook her head and asked for a mineral water.

"Have you told anyone?" He probed gently.

"Yes, my parents know and they are fully supportive, but the advertising firm I work for doesn't know. I guess I'm afraid of the reaction."

"Don't be, most places have rules against discrimination for sexual orientation?"

"You work for the FBI. You tell me?"

He sighed. "You're right. I guess I just can't understand why people aren't more tolerant in this day and age."

She smiled a sarcastic smirk. "Don't get me started. I just want to know how you know."

He smiled back. "I saw how you looked at her."

Jana began to play with the silver ring on her right hand; its oval purple stone reflected the light as she twisted it on her finger. "I should be more careful. It's not easy to admit that you're a fool."

His eyebrows went up. "I'm the king of fools." He said gently, "and you're not a fool. Years ago when I started at the BAU I had a terrible crush on her."

"You're over it."

He nodded. "I grew up and realized that she wasn't this perfect goddess I needed to worship."

Jana stopped playing with her ring. "I know she hurt you. She told me as much as she could and I know she's sorry."

"I know she is to," he said. "We didn't come here to talk about me though."

She sighed. "What am I going to do Spencer? She's completely committed to Will and she's Henry's mother and yet I can't stop loving her."

He shook his head. "You're asking the wrong person for advice Jana. All I can say is be her friend and don't close your eyes to other possibilities."

Jana narrowed her eyes at him. "How's that working for you?"

He shrugged his shoulders as the waitress brought them their drinks. "It's not working, but I keep trying. It's why I let the girls set me up. Maybe I'm hoping I'll meet someone that'll wipe her right out of my mind."

"In that case, I wish you the best of luck."

He lifted his beer. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Thanks for listening to me moan. You're a good friend Spencer."

He glanced around the room, his eyes landing of the ebony wood piano. Someone sat at the bench and had begun to play a tune he recognized but didn't know the name of so he just hummed along for a minute.

He looked over again to see that Jana had taken a card from her wallet and was writing on the back. "Here's my number and my email address. Let me know how your search goes."

He took the card. "I will," he put it in his pocket and lifted his beer.

She picked up her water and he said. "Here's to hopeless causes and unrequited love."


	5. Profiling can be Good

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_Profiling can be Good. _**

"I told you this wasn't going to work." JJ nearly snarled as she shut the door to Garcia's office. "You insisted this was a good thing for Reid, and so far every date has backfired.

Garcia didn't miss a keystroke through JJ's rant. She only smiled around ruby red lipstick and said gently as if speaking to a wild cat that might attack at any minute. "We don't know what happened last night."

"Yeah," Emily added from her perch near Garcia's coat rack. "He won't say anything other than it was top secret."

"Oh, that's not a good sign," Garcia observed, her fingers going still. "I thought you said he and Jana went to some piano bar on their own."

"They did, and Jana won't say one way or another how it went," JJ told them.

"Then how did Morgan find out about last night if you all were so secretive." Emily wanted to know.

"Kevin told him." Garcia sighed. "I love that man, but sometimes he doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut."

Emily crossed her arms over her red vee-necked sweater. "Why did you say that Reid telling Morgan it was top secret is a bad thing?"

"Because that's what we both said after our first and only date." JJ interposed. "We didn't exactly hit it off. I knew he had a crush on me and it was before we got to be good friends. I wasn't very nice to him."

"Oh JJ," Emily whined.

"I know," JJ said as she fiddled a bit with her hair that was worn down around her shoulders that day. "It wasn't my finest hour, I admit."

"Guys, we're not here to reminisce. We've got a serious problem." Garcia reminded them.

She twisted around on her seat and straightened out the bright yellow jacket she wore over a bright yellow and green blouse and a matching skirt. Her hair was done in two braids tied with green ribbon and her eyes were somber in the low light of her office.

"We have a problem of our own making." Emily reminded them. "I told you not to interfere with his love life. Now he won't talk to any of us again."

JJ sighed and got to her feet. "I hate to say it, but Emily's right. We batting zero so far."

Garcia turned her gaze on Emily who looked uncomfortable in her seat, her dark eyes unreadable. "Why haven't you contributed to this search?"

"I don't know anyone remotely right for Reid." Emily declared. "All of my friends are married or in serious relationships."

"Emily's right, we should just forget the whole thing and get on with our lives. If Reid wants romance, he'll have to find it for himself."

She quit leaning against Garcia's desk and smoothed down the black suit jacket she was wearing over a thin white turtleneck sweater. Her matching skirt just brushed her knees and Emily was about to ask her where she got her new black pumps when Garcia's phone beeped.

She and JJ left the office and Garcia, who was talking to Rossi about a consult he was working on. "I guess we better get back to work." JJ said.

Emily nodded and followed her friend back to the bullpen's and their desks. The sense of relief she had that her friends had agreed to stop interfering with Reid's life was so great, she didn't stop to wonder why it bothered her in the first place.

CMCMCM

"Why are we in the cafeteria Garcia?" JJ asked as they carried trays of food that JJ usually avoided at all costs, not because it was bad, but because it was more expensive than ordering out or bringing brown bag from home.

"We need some privacy if we're going to fix this situation with Reid."

Garcia found them a table in the corner of the room next to the wall of windows that looked out over the FBI cadet training area. The grass was dead and covered with a layer of snow that was patchy in places. The sky was somber and grey with clouds that looked like snow to JJ.

"I thought we agreed to leave it alone."

"Just because Emily doesn't want to play any more doesn't mean we have to give up. We just need to narrow our focus."

JJ picked up the turkey club on wheat she'd ordered from the sandwich bar. "How do you propose we do that?"

Garcia chose a French fry and popped it in her mouth. "I think we need to make a list of attributes that Reid likes, his perfect woman if you will."

"Again, how do you propose we do that?

Garcia watched JJ chew a bit from her sandwich. She almost laughed that JJ could pout and eat at the same time.

"Well, you know him better than all of us. What does he like in a woman?"

"Why do you think he'd confide in me about stuff like that?"

"Come on JJ, focus, use your profiler's skills."

"What about you?" JJ asked before taking a sip from her bottle of raspberry and blueberry flavored tea. "You're practically his best friend."

They stared at each other and chewed thoughtfully for a few minutes. Finally, JJ dropped her sandwich and scowled. "This is ridiculous. We've both known him for years. Why is this so hard?"

"We just need to concentrate."

JJ nodded. "Okay, let's go over what we know. Reid's intelligent, good looking, shy, and hard headed -"

"Wait," Garcia held out her hand, which clutched the last of her cheeseburger "Why are you singing the praises of my sweet cheeks. We're supposed to be listing the qualities of the perfect woman for Reid."

"Just go with me here," JJ said. "It's classic profiling. We take what we know about Reid and extrapolate from there."

Garcia narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Reid isn't some un-sub we're chasing. I don't like talking about him like that."

JJ shook her head and swallowed hard. "No Garcia, you can't think of it that way. Profiling is useful in all sorts of ways, everybody does it."

Garcia shuddered at the memory of Hotch assigning her the task of profiler. She never wanted to look into that abyss again.

"Hey PG," JJ had reached over and prodded Garcia's left hand. "Don't think of it like what the team does every day. This is a good kind of profiling." She smirked at the frown on her friend's face. "Remember this was your idea."

"Okay, I get it, but I still don't understand how we figure out what Reid would like in a woman, when he never goes out."

JJ popped the last of her salt and vinegar potato chips into her mouth. "Or, he's the last remaining gentlemen and he doesn't kiss and tell. I mean," she gestured with a hand, "he refused to share the details about both blind dates."

Garcia nodded while sipping on her traditional iced tea. "You're right, but I still don't know where to start on this list."

"I think we need to find someone that can play chess."

"Someone to beat him, or someone that doesn't mind if she loses on a regular basis?"

JJ nearly choked on her tea. "At this point, I don't think we can be that picky."

Garcia shrugged and sat back in her chair, "Alright, what about intelligence. I don't think we're going to find another genius in DC."

"You never know, there might be a listing somewhere, I'll bet you could find it."

Garcia went very pink in the cheeks and began to stare at the ceiling instead of looking JJ in the eyes.

"You already checked!" JJ nearly squealed with delight.

"Shut up!" Garcia hissed looking around to see if any of the other agents in the dining room were looking at them.

"I should have known," JJ exalted.

"Okay, you're so smart."

"Don't pout PG." JJ gave her friend her best 'forgive me' face.

"The point is that Reid's the only genius within a few hundred miles."

"Well it was an idea."

They were quiet again. JJ looked out at the grey sky and a few snowflakes that had begun to feather down as though someone had broken open a million pillows in some great cosmic pillow fight. They swirled around and down, to land and melt on the asphalt, and sticking to the golden brown grass.

"What about looks?" Garcia broke the silence between them.

"Well, Lila Archer was blonde and I know he really liked her."

"You're blonde too." Garcia pointed out.

"He liked that bartender in Georgia and she wasn't blonde."

They both sighed in frustration. "This is ridiculous. We don't even know for sure what kind of woman Reid likes. I thought men were supposed to have one type." Garcia said irritably.

"What about Morgan, he flirts with everyone?"

Garcia opened her mouth, shut it with a snap and went back to sipping her tea. "I don't think we can compare Morgan and Reid. It's apples to oranges."

JJ began playing with her birthstone ring. "Let's move on then. What about a high tolerance for Reid getting into life threatening jeopardy every five minutes?"

"Hm… That could be a problem."

"Well yeah, what girl wants a guy that can't stay out of trouble?"

They stared at each other in silence again for several minutes. "What about someone that won't run at the mention of mental illness?"

JJ's brow furrowed. "I forgot about that."

"She has to love him in spite of his mother and the possibility of inheriting a mental illness."

"How are we supposed to know that ahead of time?" JJ wanted to know.

Garcia nodded. "You're right, we can't know ahead of time. We have another problem too."

"What?"

"His wardrobe."

"Oh, that could be a problem, although I like the purple scarf." JJ admitted.

"Me too."

"Maybe Reid should get together with someone in the bureau -" Garcia began.

"Wait!" JJ's cobalt eyes began to gleam. "You and I are so dumb."

"Speak for yourself Jaje," Garcia's eyes began to spark a little.

"No… I just mean that the answer has been staring us in the face and we're too blind to see it."

"What are you talking about?"

JJ gathered up her tray. "Come on, I'll explain it on the way back to work."


	6. Musings

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_Musings_ **

Emily almost tripped over her black cat Sergio, when she arrived at her apartment. The cat meowed up at her and began to ribbon between her legs. "Hey buddy," she dropped her go bag and purse on her entryway table, in favor of picking up the cat.

Sergio stared at her with dark eyes that were nearly as black as his fur. He meowed again, a very mournful sound that made Emily smile. He inserted his claws into the sleeve of her sweater when she tried to put him down.

"What's wrong with you?"

The cat just stared up at her and swished his tail a little, as her hand stroked his head.

"Yes, I know you're the boss, let's get you something to eat." She went to the kitchen, flipping on the lights as she went.

Sergio jumped out of her arms and ran ahead of her to the pantry door. She pulled out his bag of treats and gave him one. He pounced on it like a lion on a zebra, making her laugh. There were days when the cat was such a drama queen.

She went to the refrigerator to peruse her available choices for a little supper. There wasn't much to offer accept a few eggs, some leftover Indian takeout, a couple of bottles of water, a bottle of ketchup and one lemon. Not everyone had their own personal chef like her mother. She reached for her phone and ordered a gyro plate from the nearest Greek restaurant, "Aphrodite's Rose."

"Well," she said to Sergio who was begging for another treat. "I guess I'll go change while I wait for food."

She left the cat in the kitchen without the second treat he desperately wanted and headed into her bedroom. She couldn't stop thinking about JJ and Garcia trying to get Reid a date. She couldn't believe she'd agreed to help them with such a crazy plan. So far, it looked like their efforts were a spectacular failure.

She pulled off her work clothes and added them to her laundry and dry cleaning bags respectively. She stretched her arms up over her head and wished for a shower, but there wasn't time before her food arrived. She put on an old pair of grey FBI sweat pants and a matching tee shirt with a hole in the sleeve. She left her feet bare and padded back out to the kitchen.

Sergio was up on the counter staring at her. "Hey, get down from there. You know better than that," she scolded.

The cat jumped down and ran out of the kitchen when she reached out for him. "Go ahead and sulk," she called out to him. "Just remember who feeds you."

Her thoughts returned to Reid and the girls trying to find him a date. She couldn't figure out why she'd agreed to help plot with JJ and Garcia. Her only excuse was that the steam bath had dulled her wits.

She got a bottle of water from the fridge instead of reaching for a glass of wine. If she had one, she might not stop there. Just thinking that she could get good and drunk in the middle of the week confused her. Worrying about Reid and his love life wasn't something she wanted to do. Thanks to JJ and Garcia, she didn't have a choice but to think about it.

"Just stop it and mind your own business," she said aloud. "Why is it any of your concern?"

She didn't care one way or the other except that she didn't want him to get hurt. She would just have to talk to the girls in the morning and see what they were planning. They'd holed up in Garcia's office after lunch and when JJ had finally come out she'd given Emily a look that had Emily's back up, but she couldn't say anything because Reid was right there. Then the girls had left before Emily could confront them.

Even though her mahogany leather sofa called to her, she went to the window instead to stand and look out at the snow falling. The large flakes floated down as they had all afternoon. The storm seemed to have found its home right over the city and it wasn't in a hurry to leave. The fading light of the day was nearly gone, leaving the sky plum and black with just a little golden light at the edges of the horizon. In a few minutes, the snow wouldn't be visible, but the storm would remain, just as Reid remained in her thoughts.

She jumped at buzz of the doorbell, whipping around to stare at the door as if she was completely surprised that anyone was there. Oh yes, it was the delivery of her food. She'd nearly forgotten that she was starving.

Sergio ran into the kitchen as she was sitting down at her little bistro style table with her plate. The cat jumped up on the other chair and meowed at her. He stood up and began scratching his claws on the fabric that covered the back of the chair.

"Hey, what is up with you today? Stop it and get down."

Sergio only eyed her, and then lay down as if it was his idea in the first place. "I don't get males, cats or otherwise," she complained over her lamb gyro.

She didn't realize that she'd stopped eating after only a couple of bites until Sergio jumped off the chair and bumped his head on her leg.

"Sergio, do you think I'm a fool?" she asked him.

He just stared up at her and she sighed. "Why am I talking to a cat? You can't give me advice or make me stop thinking about this ridiculous situation with Reid and the girls."

Sergio climbed into her lap and began kneading his claws into the legs of her sweat pants. "Hey, be careful with those claws." The cat began to purr when Emily picked him up and held him to her shoulder. She began to stroke the top of his head while her thoughts chased each other around in her head like bats in flight.

"I should be worrying about myself, and not Reid. Do you know it's been four years since I had a relationship that's last more than a few months? They just don't understand my life."

Sergio continued to purr in her ear, a soothing sound that began to take the edge off Emily's ragged nerves. She clutched the cat tighter to her shoulder, relishing in the feel of warmth from another living creature.

"That's what I need Sergio, someone that understands me; someone that understands my work and how important it is to me."

The cat had stopped purring. She turned her head to see that Sergio was asleep. "I can't give up my work. It's too important to me. I have to stay and see it through because I left once and - well I can't leave again because I'd hurt him - I mean I'd hurt them again."

She shook her head. "Let's not think or talk about that Sergio. What do you say?"

Her cat was still asleep in her arms, but somehow it was easier talking to him than it was talking to anyone on her team. It used to be easy to talk to Reid, but something had interfered - no that wasn't right. It was her fault that easiness between them was gone.

"What have I done?" She whispered to the cat. "How do I fix it?"

She took the cat to the living room leaving the rest of her supper untouched and went back to the window. She couldn't see the snow anymore as it was fully dark. The long night of black December had returned and she was alone with Sergio for company.

* * *

><p>He just didn't understand women. They were mysterious creatures that baffled him. From the standpoint of psychology, he understood how the criminal female mind worked, but not the normal female mind. No degrees in the world bridged the gap between him and the strange creature called the human female.<p>

He thought he knew Emily, JJ and Garcia, but all of them had surprised him on a regular basis and now he didn't know JJ or Emily at all. He thought they were his friends, but friends don't hurt each other as they had in the last year.

Trying to play his keyboard didn't help him figure out why women didn't like him as more than just a friend, or like a brother or godfather. He sighed and knew what a shrink would tell him, that he was using his genius and lack of experience with women as an excuse.

Morgan once told him that he needed to play to his strengths as long as it wasn't statistics and facts. He couldn't go around doing magic all the time though, so how was he supposed to use that as a way to get girls. He supposed he could quit his job and become a street magician, but that wasn't practical.

He got up from the bench in front of his keyboard and went his desk. He had an article he was supposed to be writing but had put aside due to extreme writers block. He shouldn't have agreed to another writing project while his mind was so disturbed. He flipped over his yellow legal pad and picked up his pen. He touched it to the page as though just the act of holding the writing instrument had the power to break his writers block.

Ten minutes later, he left the pen on his desk, went to his bedroom and picked up his phone. The last week he'd been a good sport but now he'd come to an understanding. It was time to call her and tell her how he really felt.


	7. The Perfect Girl?

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_The Perfect Girl? _**

JJ shut the door to the dishwasher and grabbed a towel to dry her hands. Will and Henry were shut up in Will's study or the 'man cave' as Will liked to call it. As Will had cooked, it was JJ's turn to clean up the mess. She began stacking pans that needed to be hand washed next to the big double sink. The kitchen was the reason she and Will had decided to move into this house. All the appliances were new and stainless steel. The countertops were dark grey granite with matching tile backsplashes. The first thing that had taken her completely by surprise when she'd first got to know Will was how well he could cook. The kitchen was perfect for him.

She was on the point of filling one of the sinks to wash up the pans, when her phone rang. "JJ," she answered briskly.

"_You sound so official." _

"Garcia, what's up? I assume you didn't call to complain about my phone skills."

"_I just received a very interesting phone call." _

"We all get interesting phone calls, its part of the job." JJ turned on the hot water, and reached for the sink plug.

"_I know that… This call came from Reid. He's not happy with us right now." _

"How is that different from the last couple of months?" JJ snapped while adding dish soap to the sink.

"_Jaje!" _

"I'm just tired of his constant irritation with me. I know what Hotch and I did was extreme, but I refuse to apologize. We were trying to keep Emily alive. Hotch said we have to be patient with him and I'm really trying, but every time I think everything is okay, he says something or gives me some kind of look that says we'll never be friends again. I don't want to lose him forever Garcia."

"_I don't want to rehash this JJ. All I can say is that you have to give him time. Besides, after his call I think I have a way to give him something he's wanted for a long time." _

JJ's ears perked up and her hands stilled in their course of wiping up some spills on the counter tops. "What are you talking about?"

"_You were the one that pointed out the obvious to me. I still can't believe I didn't see it." _

JJ grinned at the huff in her friend's voice. "I didn't see it either and I had him crying on my shoulder for weeks after Emily. I was too wrapped up in keeping my secret that I didn't see that he loves her desperately. So tell me about your conversation," JJ insisted feeling excitement for the first time in a long time.

"_He said he was done going out with our friends. He came right out and told me that he loves Emily but he doesn't think she feels the same. He's really depressed." _

JJ clamped the phone between her chin and her shoulder so she could wash dishes. "Don't worry Garcia; I'm sure you and I can come up with something to help them."

"_I don't think we should meddle. You know Reid's not happy with you and if Emily doesn't feel the same way, he'll never forgive you. Is that what you want?"_

"I don't think we have to worry."

"_I hope you're right." _

"I told you there's only one reason why she's been so reluctant to fix him up with anyone. She wants him for herself, but she's in total denial."

There was a very long pause.

"Garcia, are you still there?"

"_Yes… I was just thinking that if this backfires, you and I will be pariahs for the rest of our lives as far as Reid is concerned."_

"Since when are you the pessimistic one?"

"_I just think we need to be careful and think long and hard about this." _

"I don't think now is the time to think about the next step. We just go for it and let the chips fall where they may. Spence is mad at me and I don't think this is going to make it that much worse than it is now. I just want him to be happy and Emily too. If they can be happy together, so much the better."

"_I hope you know what you're doing." _

"It'll be okay. Don't worry about it."

After Garcia had let her go, JJ went back to her dishes and her thoughts. Garcia had a point, interfering with Spence and Emily could backfire. She looked at the window above the sink and stared at her face reflected with the black night framing her. She didn't look as confident as she'd tried to sound when talking with her friend.

* * *

><p>"Is she here yet?"<p>

Garcia spun around in her chair to confront her friend. "Thank you for knocking," she snapped.

"Why are you so jumpy?"

Garcia took in JJ's perky tone and bright smile. "Why are you so annoyingly cheerful this morning?"

JJ took the only other chair in the room. "I'm happy because we're finally doing something for two friends that make sense."

"No, we're about to meddle some more in Reid and Emily's lives, possibly alienating them for life if it all goes bad."

"I can't believe you're so down."

JJ took in Garcia's blond curls, her rather conservative navy suit coat that covered a bright yellow blouse with ruffles around the collar, and a chunky red necklace with matching earrings. Her skirt and shoes matched her jacket, but the tops of her shoes featured gold butterflies in flight. For the first time in JJ's memory, her clothes didn't match her sunny mood.

"I'm not down, I'm just nervous."

"I promise everything is going to work out fine."

Someone knocked on JJ's door. "See, someone knows how to knock."

JJ rolled her eyes and went to the door. "I hope its Emily."

It was Emily, but she didn't look happy to be there. "I told you guys that I don't have time for any more devious plotting."

"We understand," Garcia said. "We were just talking amongst ourselves about the kind of woman Reid might like."

"Why don't you guys give it up? So far, you've set him up with a woman that's still hung up on her ex-husband, and you," she jabbed a finger at JJ, "you set him up with a friend, she seemed nice, but apparently that didn't work out for reasons unknown. I'd say you're batting a thousand."

"There's no need for sarcasm." JJ interrupted. "You're right about your lack of good choices when it comes to women for him.

"Actually, I found something we could use to help." Garcia said, as her fingers flew over the keyboard.

"That looks like an online catalog." Emily pointed out, "How is that going to help?"

"Well, I thought we could look at the girls and figure out a composite of what Reid would like."

She tapped some keys as Emily began to protest. "You can't just build a woman for Reid."

"I'm not suggesting that, we're just getting some ideas."

Emily crossed her arms over her chest. "I think you two are crazy."

"I like that one right there." JJ said pointing over Emily's shoulder at the screen.

The woman in the catalog wore a grey pin stripe suit with a light pink blouse and matching shoes. She dangled a matching purse from one finger and smiled at the camera as though flirting with the local handyman. She had long blond hair bundled up on her head with little ringlets around her neck. Her deep blue eyes seemed to look right through the camera and her pink lips pouted prettily.

"What's so great about her?" Emily wanted to know. "She's just some vapid model that probably has an IQ of 60."

"I wasn't thinking about her mind." JJ said. "I was thinking about her eyes."

"Why do you think he likes blue eyes? He never talks about girls like Morgan, but maybe he likes dark eyes."

Garcia looked back over her shoulder at JJ, who was smirking at the back of Emily's head. "I think JJ's right. The eyes are something we have to consider."

"What about that one?" Garcia had faced her computer screen again. She indicated a girl in a short red skirt, high heels and a gold spaghetti strap top. Her hair was red and her eyes green; she had a complexion like peaches and cream.

"I like her hair and she's got a great little nose."

"She's got a heart shaped face too. She's very beautiful."

Emily had taken the only other chair in the office and was so close to screen, she edged Garcia out of the way. "She's not that great. Your friend has red hair and I don't think Reid liked it." She didn't sound sure though and it burned in her gut to say it to her friends.

"Alright, what about this girl?" JJ pointed to a group picture after Garcia changed to the wedding section. They were all in evening gowns in jewel tones of emerald, ruby and sapphire. The girl Garcia had picked out had dark hair and eyes. She was taller than the rest with a penetrating stare that looked right through the camera and she wasn't smiling, but she had the look of confidence that meant she didn't need to smile brightly at the camera.

"I like her." Garcia agreed. "She sort of reminds me of someone, but I can't think of who it might be."

"I don't think so," Emily disagreed.

"Why not, she's got dark eyes like you said, she has confidence, if we could put the nose and complexion on her from the last picture, we'd be in business."

"You do realize that a girl like that doesn't exist in real life. These models are all dressed up and have professional hair and makeup." Emily argued.

"You're taking all of this too seriously." JJ said patting her friend on the shoulder. "You're the only one of the three of us that hasn't offered to fix up Reid with a friend and now you're shooting down our attempts to figure out what kind of woman Reid might be attracted to. Either help us or go away."

Emily shoved out of her chair and stalked out the door without another word, leaving JJ and Garcia grinning at each other.

"I told you." JJ said smugly.

"I think you're right, so what do we do now."

"I'll have to think about it."


	8. Dominant or Submissive?

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_A/n Reid's quote is taken directly from Medicinenet dot com. _**

**_Dominant or Submissive? _**

Reid made sure to be the last one to leave the office on Friday. The girls had been quiet for the last three days - which alternately pleased and alarmed him - so he decided the only thing to do, was flee.

Emily went about her life the same way she always had, he noticed, but there was something in her eyes he didn't recognize when she looked at him, that made him tingle and feel a little sick with worry at the same time.

JJ and Garcia hadn't once asked him in three days to go out with any of their friends. This also pleased and worried him because he could see in their eyes and faces that they were planning something. He only hoped that he'd be strong enough to put his foot down and say no.

He sighed as he made his way down to the underground and the train. There was no way this was going to end well because he knew his friends better than that, they'd come up with something to torment him. They meant well, but they just couldn't leave it alone.

The train pulled into the station in a rush of air and with a clashing roar, just as he pushed through the turnstiles. He thanked any watching higher power, that the car he entered was empty except for one other person. He needed the quiet on the way home.

He took one seat in the back of the car and dropped his messenger bag on the seat next to him. There was an unread book in the bag, but he decided just to sit there and watch the tunnel walls rush past. The train jerked forward with a squeal of metal and began to move. He inhaled the smell that went with the train that he really couldn't define except that it reminded him a bit of old sweat socks in a locker room and a little bit of mustiness like a long unused room. He liked it because it meant that he was going home and it appeared that he'd have the entire weekend of freedom from the machinations of his friends.

The train climbed out of the tunnel and into the black night dotted with lights from cars, homes and the business that were still open to the public. It raced past people walking along the sidewalks even though snow had began to fall again. It was beginning to lull him into relaxing when someone walked up and said. "Do you mind if I sit here?"

He looked up to see the woman he'd noticed sitting alone on the train when he'd entered the car. He looked around the rest of the train wondering why she wanted to sit there when every other seat was empty.

"I know it's crazy, but I've seen you on the train when I have the mid day shift at the hospital and I wondered who you were. You spend a lot of time with the dark haired woman and since she's not here, I thought I'd say hello."

She seemed harmless, he thought, but what did he know, he been fooled by Tobias Henkel. Still, she was pretty, with dark wavy hair around her shoulders, dark eyes behind thin-rimmed glasses and a light olive complexion. Her face was round, but her expression was open and friendly. She wore cranberry scrubs and tennis shoes with a winter coat and a dark grey scarf.

"Ah sure, you can sit there," he squeaked, pointing to the seat across from him.

"Thank you." She put her bag on the empty seat and pulled off her scarf.

Something spicy and a little like flowers that he liked very much, wafted to him as she moved. He had to work not to just close his eyes and breathe in deep.

"I hate riding the train alone," she commented.

"Yeah, um I usually ride at commute time if we don't - um I mean if I'm not busy. I usually bring a book."

"Where is your friend?" She asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"I've noticed you sitting with a woman before and I wondered why you're alone today. If I were her, I wouldn't leave you alone."

He almost gaped at her tone and the change in her eyes that were staring at him as if he might be lunch. Perhaps she was just really lonely, or tired.

"Um, I had a lot of work to finish." It wasn't a total lie he rationalized.

"I see… Well, I'm glad you're alone. I've wanted to speak to you ever since I started working the evening shift."

He wished he could come up with something smooth to say like Morgan, but his mind was completely blank.

"Where do you work?"

His eyes flicked back up to her face to see that she was watching him with her dark eyes as if everything depended on what he said. He decided telling her was okay.

"I'm an FBI agent."

"Really, I never would have guessed."

"Um, I work for the Behavioral Analysis Unit."

Her eyes lit up again. "I've heard of that, you're like one of those guys that look for serial killers and stuff."

"Yes, I'm a profiler."

The predatory gleam in her eyes was back, but it didn't scare him. He didn't know what to do next, but he liked that she was there. Emily faded back in his head. She was a dream and this woman was real. "Um, what's your name?"

"It's Lisa."

"I'm Dr. Spencer Reid," and immediately wished he'd just said Spencer. She'd think he was some kind of pretentious snob.

Her eyebrows went up. "You're a doctor."

"No, not a medical doctor, I have three PhD's."

He dropped his eyes to the grey, scuffed floor. He just couldn't stop blurting things out. She'd be sorry she sat down if he didn't control his mouth.

"Really, you don't look old enough for all that education."

"I'm a genius," he informed her and squirmed again.

She was going to run off at any second. Why couldn't he just shut up!

"Hey," she reached out and tapped his arm.

"Sorry I was thinking. I do that a lot." He blurted out.

No, keeping his foot out of his mouth wasn't going to work, so he gave up and tried to smile.

She was sitting forward in her chair and she had that predatory gleam in her dark eyes again. "You strike me as someone that needs to relax."

He almost laughed because he'd never known how to just sit back and relax. The concept was out of his realm of possibility.

"I'm fine," he said very defensively.

She reached over again and ran her fingertip over the back of his hand. He yanked it away but she just grinned at him. His face went hot as the train ground to a noisy halt. No one got on, which annoyed him now that he was thinking that having someone else on the train might be a great idea.

"May I make a suggestion?"

He flicked his eyes back to her. She leaned forward, so close that he could feel the warmth of her breath on his face and smell a hint of her perfume as the train pulled forward again.

"What?"

He just couldn't shut his mouth even if he were curious about what she might say to him.

"You're awfully tense. I can help you with that." She whispered as if they were in church.

"I don't think - I mean we just met and I think -"

"You strike me as someone that just needs the chance to let go."

He couldn't look her in the eye. He was too busy trying to figure out why a complete stranger was talking to him like this.

"Stress is simply a fact of nature - forces from the inside or outside world affecting the individual. The individual responds to stress in ways that affect the individual as well as their environment. Because of the overabundance of stress in our modern lives, we usually think of stress as a negative experience, but from a biological point of view, stress can be a neutral, negative, or positive experience.

In general, stress is related to both external and internal factors. External factors include the physical environment, including your job, your relationships with others, your home, and all the situations, challenges, difficulties, and expectations you're confronted with on a daily basis. Internal factors determine your body's ability to respond to, and deal with, the external stress-inducing factors."

She still grinned at him when he paused for breath. "You sound like you're quoting from somewhere."

"Actually it's something I read online, I have an eidetic memory."

She laughed again. "So you're trying to tell me that stress is good or bad."

He nodded.

"How is it with your job?"

He tried to say it was no big deal, but she was watching very closely so he simply shrugged as the train clashed and squealed to a halt. The doors opened, and admitted a very old man hunched over a cane climbed laboriously onto the car. He sat at the opposite end of the train and appeared to fall into a deep sleep. Reid sighed, as there was no help for him from innocent bystanders.

"I think you're in denial," she was saying to him. "I have an idea that might just help you."

He blinked and sat back away from her because she was still leaning toward him. He flinched at her hand on his knee. Her fingers slid up to his thigh and stayed there rubbing lightly.

"We don't know each other," he protested.

"Haven't you ever wanted to just let go with a total stranger, no strings attached." Her hand slid higher up his leg, but he was unable to move away from her even though every fiber in his being screamed at him to get up and leave.

"No," he said loud enough to wake the old man that was still the only passenger on the car with them.

"I'm a nurse, but I also moonlight occasionally at an establishment that caters to certain gentlemen and ladies that appreciate relaxation with a little pain and domination," she said as if it was no big deal. "Would you like to experience the bite of cat o nine tails on your back Spencer? You don't know what pleasure is without a little pain."

He jerked away from the hypnotic quality of her tone because for one instant he nearly said yes to her offer. She didn't seem to mind that he suddenly shot to his feet. "I have to go."

"Why don't you take my card? Bring your friend with you. The three of us could have a very relaxing time together. If you feel stressed baby, I'm sure I could teach you to let go of your submissive side or how to keep it, if you want."

He grabbed his bag and got off the train when it halted again even though he was only half way home. He refused to look back at the window because his heart was thrumming in his chest. He kept his back to the train until it was far away, and the sound of the wheels on the track a distant memory.

He pulled his purple scarf up around his face, and looked left and right, cursing his decision to run. He should have just told her no instead of running away. Now he had to wait twenty minutes in the freezing cold that bit hard at his cheeks for the next train.


	9. Ladies of the Evening

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_Ladies of the Evening _**

It was ten am and Reid sat on the jet's bench looking through the file folder on his lap. They'd been called in three hours early that morning for a missing little girl in Iowa who was the fifth to disappear in two months.

He flicked his eyes up to Emily, who was studying her file. Garcia said that he should just take a chance and ask her out. If only he could think of something to say, so that she'd say yes instead of laughing at him. What if it didn't work out? He shuddered at the thought because they worked together. He'd read statistics about people hooking up at work and the percentages of failure versus success. The odds weren't in their favor.

What about Garcia and Kevin? They managed to work for the same employer and get along just fine. He brain reminded him that Garcia and Kevin weren't on the same team. They didn't work closely together. Kevin didn't lie to Garcia and make her think he was dead.

"Reid!"

He looked away from staring at Emily to see that Hotch had the look that said he was expecting an answer to a question Reid hadn't heard.

"Sorry Hotch, I was thinking."

"I was asking if you have anything to add."

"Oh, well the fact that he's taking them from homeless shelters is very telling. It's likely that he blends in, probably someone that volunteers or works in the area. He'd have to have a place to take them, and another indigent wouldn't have access to a convenient hiding place."

"Morgan just said that," JJ pointed out and received a black look from Reid for her pains.

No one, not even Hotch said anything to Reid, JJ only raised her eyebrows and returned to her notes.

Reid narrowed his eyes at Morgan, rubbed his nose and ignored Rossi's smile. It all just proved that Emily was too distracting. If considering the possibilities with her had this effect on him, what kind of problems would dating her bring? He decided now that finding out wasn't worth the risk.

* * *

><p>Reid ducked under the yellow crime scene tape, leaving behind the filthy alleyway and the stench of putrid garbage, sweat, and foul steam from a vent. He wound his way around a big blue dumpster that looked like it had been there since the beginning of time with Hotch and the rest of the team. "It's definitely Kimberly Walsh. The ME said she's been dead less than twelve hours. She was strangled, raped and beaten. His rage is escalating."<p>

Hotch nodded. "I thought we'd have more time. The time between taking the victim and killing them is accelerating. He could take another girl at anytime."

"We need to talk to the people that live here." Emily said.

"It's going to be tough," Reid, pointed out. "Transients by nature are mobile. Remember how difficult it was to get a line on the un-sub in Kansas City a few years ago."

"Yeah… This time we don't have a cop that keeps track of the homeless population helping us." Emily reminded them.

"Let's take the same steps we did then and talk to the indigent population here. Rossi and I will take the staff at the shelter and talk to anyone that owns or works a business here."

"Want to partner with me?" JJ yanked on Morgan's arm.

"Sure," he walked away with Hotch and Rossi leaving Emily and Reid staring at each other.

"Come on," she gestured forward, "The sooner the quicker."

* * *

><p>She should have realized this would happen when they split up to talk to the denizens of the streets. The fact that she really didn't think about it, was just testimony to the fact that she was completely distracted. Still, there she was with Reid talking to three ladies of the evening huddled together next to a brick storefront with broken and boarded up windows. The women were completely ignoring her and they had surrounded Reid who stood with his back to the wall, and the ladies in a half circle around them. Now, he was trying to back away from a frizzed blonde-haired woman in a silver mini, a dark blue halter top and a white suede coat.<p>

"Why don't ya dump her? We could have so much more fun without the fed bitch."

Emily fisted her hands in her coat pockets so they couldn't reach out and throttle the little witch, which would hardly be professional.

"This fed bitch would like to know if you saw anything last night," she said as pleasantly as she could.

Reid opened his mouth, and then closed it with a snap when she glared at him. "There's a dead little girl in the next alley, so why don't you all tell me what you saw last night."

"We didn't see nothin'," said the red head in a battered pair of hipster jeans and vee neck blouse cut nearly to her navel beneath a battered denim jacket. She reached out and was stroking Reid's arm.

"Yeah, you don't got no call to hassle us. We stick together because the neighborhood's rough round here."

The third prostitute wore her hair long and black, her skin was the same color as Morgan's and she wore a skin tight red dress that didn't hit much further down than her crotch, with gold spangles and a black leather jacket.

Reid was backed against the wall and very rosy in the cheeks. Emily struggled to find some sympathy in her heart for him, but it just wasn't there.

"I get that you take care of each other, but there's a killer out there that's preying on kids. We're not here to hassle you."

"I seen this guy a couple nights ago that scared me. I mean you do this job and ya get to know the crazy ones and how to stay away."

Emily nodded, keeping her eyes off Reid and her tone as light as she could despite the desire to hurt all of them for the attention they gave to her partner.

"What did he look like?"

"I dunno, all the johns look alike."

The red head snorted laughter. "Except this one," she'd attached to Reid like a leech, in Emily's opinion, despite Reid's struggle to retrieve his arm. "This one makes the slobs down on the avenue look like shit."

"Why don't you ease up on my friend?" Emily suggested evenly.

The redhead let go of Reid because there was something in the dark eyed one that spoke of murder. Yeah, she knew that look all right; she'd see it in many eyes.

"Look, its f-ing freezing out here, the sun's goin' to be up soon. I tell you what I saw you leave us alone." The redhead said.

"I'm not interesting in calling in the local's to roust you. What did you see?"

"He was a tall dude, white with one of those beards that just go around the mouth." She made motions with her hands around her own face.

"A goatee stupid," the black haired one sneered.

"Shut up Candy or I'll kick your face in for you."

"Ladies!"

Emily nearly rolled her eyes. This was getting them nowhere fast. "Do you remember anything special about him?" She asked as patiently as she could.

"Just that he didn't look like he wanted no one to see him. I'd just finished a blowjob for some asshole that would stop drooling all over my chest and I was comin' outta the alley. He passed by and he had mean, dark eyes. Don't know no more than that. Can we go now?"

"Did any of the rest of you see this guy?"

The others shook their heads, stamped their feet and blew on hands that didn't have gloves. Emily realized that none of them was more than twenty. Even though they all seemed taken with Reid, her blood cooled to them. They probably didn't have anywhere else to go.

"Alright, if you see anything," she said handing out her card. "Please call me."

The blonde reluctantly let Reid slip past her and out of their snare. "Baby, if you get lonely, just come back down here and ask for Erica, I'll take good care of you."

"What does he want with a stupid bitch like you?" The redhead said shoving at the blonde and nearly knocking her off her heels.

Emily pulled Reid away and left the women loudly arguing over whom Reid liked the best. His face was either windblown or he was completely humiliated because his cheeks were crimson.

"What's the matter with you?"

His eyes widened at the whip snap of her tone.

"Nothing!"

"You could have fooled me. You didn't say one word to those girls. Since when do you clam up like a rookie?"

"I don't know what you're so mad about. You were doing fine. I was about to talk but you looked like you were ready to kill me."

Her hands were still curled in her pockets and she longed to throttle him. Why couldn't he see his appeal?

"Look, I'm sorry; it's just that those women seemed pretty interested in you. They might have given us more if you'd just talked to them."

"I didn't do anything wrong."

She shook her head. "Next prostitutes we see, you talk to them."

"I can talk to anyone. They just caught me off guard."

They rounded a corner full face into the wind that had sprung up as the sun began its climb into the golden sky. Emily yanked up her blue knit scarf and hunched her shoulders against the breath stealing wind. Neither spoke until the building shielded them from the worst of the northern gusts.

"Hotch was right about you, the working girls seem to love you."

He eyed her carefully. "I don't appreciate the sarcasm or your attitude Emily. Let's just do our job and catch this guy before he takes another little girl. Keep in mind that I can handle myself just fine."

She doubted it, but they were coming up on a person - it was hard to tell with the hunched posture and a ragged cap pulled low on their face - and they needed to find some little piece of vital information that would take them to the next level in finding this child killer.

* * *

><p>He spent the rest of the morning with Emily talking to the homeless, the drug addicts and prostitutes, all while wondering why she was so angry at him. It wasn't as if he wore a sign for all the working women to see that he'd be interested in their services. It wasn't his fault that they seemed to like him. He was sure that Morgan was getting his fair share of attention, and probably Hotch. There had to be working girls that like the stern, buttoned, and strait-laced type that was their boss man.<p>

It didn't matter what the prostitutes thought any way. All they wanted was to make a living and that meant selling themselves to any men that was willing and had the cash. It was a depressing life with little in the way of comfort, but it was still just a way to make money. It wasn't as if they were interested in a real relationship. Why couldn't everyone on the team see that and stop teasing him?

He hunched his shoulders as they met up with the rest of the team, a couple of LEOs and the case detective. No one other than Reid and Emily had found anything in the way of the remotest lead. If the man with the goatee and the scary eyes had been seen, the other street people weren't talking, which meant the lead was a dead end or this man was very interesting.

"I say we get out of the cold and go over what we've got." Morgan was saying.

Hotch nodded. "We'll grab some lunch and work a preliminary profile. We can't discount what your witness said about the man with the goatee." He directed at Reid and Emily, "but we need more to go on."

"I should have enough data to work on a geographical profile." Reid heard himself saying in a rather desperate tone.

"After we get something hot to eat," JJ interrupted. "I'm freezing.

He wanted to be irritated, but she was right, it was cold and his stomach rumbled at the thought of finding something hot like a bowl of soup.

He broke off from Emily to ride with Mattingly and Rossi, so he missed the look Emily shot him, but fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately for him, JJ didn't miss it.


	10. Dinner with Friends

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_Dinner with Friends _**

Reid had never been to Charlie's Grill before Garcia had suggested it. It reminded him a log cabin that someone had expanded with sawdust on the floor. There was an old-fashioned jukebox in one corner, with clear tubing filled with fluorescent colors throbbing with the music it played.

The restaurant was relatively quiet on that Tuesday night. The idea for all of them to go to dinner had been Garcia's suggestion and there was no saying no to her. Except for Hotch and Rossi who had bowed out citing prior commitments.

Reid was sandwiched between Emily and JJ, while Morgan and Garcia sat on the other side of the booth giggling and discussing the menu rather loudly.

"You have to try the prime rib. It's excellent." Morgan was commenting to Garcia.

"No way, if I have to eat here, it's going to be the vegetable plate." Garcia said after making a face that suggested she'd just eaten raw lemons.

"You don't know what you're missing mama."

"You're the one that picked this place."

"I had to, no one else wanted to make up their minds," he reminded her.

Reid was having a hard time concentrating on his menu because the only thing he could smell was Emily's perfume. It was his favorite, some combination of flowers and musk. It was making his head a little fuzzy.

"I think I'm going to have a nice big steak." Emily put in, much to Garcia's disgust.

"I've heard they have great pork chops." JJ added as their server brought the drinks they ordered.

Reid latched onto the beer he had ordered and took a long swallow while their server, a muscular man with blond hair and deep brown eyes asked Emily if they were ready to order. He didn't like the way the man was flirting with Emily, but what could he do about it with Morgan watching him.

He decided on the barbecued chicken and was about to pick up his beer again when Garcia asked him point black why he looked like he'd lost his best friend. He resisted the urge to glare at her only because Morgan was there.

"I'm fine." He managed, keeping his right arm as close to his body as possible while he drank so he didn't accidentally bump into Emily. _Why did the booths have to be so small?_

"No more thinking about the last case or work. We're here to have fun."

He raised his beer and gave her his best 'placate Garcia smile,' which made Morgan snort over his beer. "Penelope is right, let's leave work out the door and enjoy the atmosphere."

Some country song that Reid didn't recognize came on. He noticed that Emily was humming under her breath with the melody of the tune. She met his eyes and smiled at him for the first time in two days. It appeared she was no longer mad at him about the prostitutes.

He realized that JJ was trying to talk to him. "What?" He said distractedly.

"I asked if you were coming over on Sunday. Henry misses you."

"I suppose so, um yeah, I mean sure I'd love to." He stammered as more of Emily's perfume muddled his head.

He shouldn't have agreed to come out to eat or to let the girls dictate where he sat that night. "I'd love to," he said again, smiling at the thought of his little godson. Henry was growing up so fast. What if he decided, when he was older, that he didn't want his godfather hanging around. Reid didn't know what he'd do if that ever happened.

"What are you thinking about?" JJ asked, jabbing him lightly in the side with her elbow.

Mike the server saved him by bringing out a plate loaded down with potato skins and fried zucchini sticks. He grabbed a zucchini stick, jabbed it in the ranch dipping sauce and shoved it in his mouth. He gagged when the fried vegetable burned the roof of his mouth, and then nearly choked on his beer when he tried to cool the burn.

"Hey," Emily slapped him on the back. "Slow down and chew."

The fact that he wished she'd touch him again, sent his heart into panicked over drive. He reached for a potato skin and ignored Morgan who was grinning at him again.

"Yeah, the food's not going anywhere," Garcia said.

"I'm hungry," he squeaked.

"We're all hungry man; leave some for the rest of us."

They laughed, but at least his skin wasn't humming with Emily right next to him. JJ began talking to him again, telling him all about Henry's latest antics which had everyone in stitches. They were just starting to relax when both Garcia and JJ's phones began ringing

JJ shut her phone saying she had to leave that Henry wasn't feeling well. "What's wrong?" Reid demanded.

"Oh it's nothing, just a little upset stomach. I just think I should go home."

Emily and Reid slid out to let her leave just as Garcia closed her phone and informed she'd just heard from someone in her grief counseling group and needed to leave. "Come on handsome," She grabbed Morgan's arm. "You drove me here and I need a quick ride home."

They left so quickly Reid didn't get a chance to ask what happened. The next thing he knew he was sitting there with Emily. "I guess you're stuck with me."

"Yeah, I mean that's okay."

He found that it didn't matter that it was just Emily next to him. Then she stood up, grabbed her iced tea and her plate with a couple of potato skins loaded with melted cheese. She moved around to the other side of the table, putting Garcia's untouched salad aside. Mike arrived with their orders. Emily that let him know they'd lost half their party to emergency. Reid was still too confused as to why she left him sitting there to say anything. Mike left the chicken for Reid and Emily's steak, and then melted away.

Emily was staring at him. "Hey," she tapped her fork on the table. "I thought I'd move so I can see you when I talk to you."

He wanted to be upset that he couldn't catch whiffs of her perfume, but seeing her eyes boring into his soul made it better. "I'm glad they all left," she said.

"You are?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

He shrugged, "It's not like we've spent time together since you got back."

She took a bite of her steak, chewed and frowned. "I deserved that, I guess. I just wanted to give you some time. I know I hurt you and I'm sorry. I said many thoughtless things when I came back. I hoped you'd forgive me, but I don't want to force it."

He poked at his chicken instead of eating. "I want to say that I'm okay, but I'd be lying. I trusted you with my life and you all threw it in my face."

He flinched a little at the way her dark eyes narrowed and went cold.

"I just mean that it's going to take some time, but I do want things to be the way they were even if I know that's not possible. Everything is different now," he said.

Her eyes had cleared a little. She took a sip of her iced tea and put down her fork as he finally took a bite of his barbecue chicken, which was delicious.

"I truly am sorry for what I did, but I'd do it again. I had to protect you."

His stomach turned over at the use of the word, you, even though he knew she was speaking in the plural not the singular.

"Can we talk about something else?"

She nodded and applied herself to her steak. "What do you want to talk about?"

He wished he had the guts to tell her that he liked the way the low light of the restaurant shined on her hair, or the dark green sweater she wore with her navy jacket and slacks. He just didn't get how she always managed to look professional and have her clothes hug her body the way she did without much effort. It was as if the clothes she always wore were made just for her.

"What are you thinking?"

He looked up at her, his food forgotten for a minute because she was staring at him with something in her eyes that sent his heart to pounding again.

"I was just thinking -"

He didn't know what to say. Oh God, if only he could think of something smooth. Everything was so conflicting and confusing about her. He wanted so much to tell her how he felt about her, but he still felt so much betrayal at her actions.

"Yes?"

"I was thinking about the case and why you were so mad at me."

"What are you talking about?"

He lifted his eyebrows at her snappy tone, "About the hookers. You were so mad. I've never seen you that rude on a case. You act like I did something wrong."

"I don't want to talk about this."

"I want to," he argued. "How am I supposed to know how to act if everyone just teases me about something I don't have any control over?"

Emily dropped her fork with a clatter. "So it's okay for you to be mad, but it's not okay for me to get upset when you don't get your own appeal and you don't see what's right in front of you. I can't believe how blind you are, damn it!"

"Emily?"

He couldn't believe how fast the tone of the conversation had turned. He looked around to see if the couple on the other side of them was listening, but they were too much into each other. Why couldn't Emily look at him the way the woman was looking at the man in that booth?

"Spencer Reid, would you pay attention for once"

He jerked, dropping barbecue chicken on his lap and staining his brown corduroy pants. "What?"

"I give up!"

She slid to the other side of the booth's bench and stood up with her bag. "I was glad when the other's left. I was going to tell you I'd do what I did to you a thousand times over. I care for _you_ Spencer Reid, and I'll do whatever it takes to protect you no matter how pissed off it makes you, so _get_ over it."

She hurried out of the restaurant without another word, leaving him with his mouth open and the realization of two things… He was blind and stupid, and he'd been stuck with the check.


	11. All the Wrong Moves

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_All the Wrong Moves _**

When Emily returned to the bullpen after dropping off completed paperwork to Hotch, she found JJ at her desk, but not Reid.

_"You're not his keeper,"_ she reminded herself sternly.

She squared her shoulders and approached JJ who was just ending a phone call with a detective in Rochester Mass.

"Where's Reid?"

She nearly winced at the squeak in her voice. She was Emily Prentiss, she did not squeak!

JJ smirked at her. "He's helping Morgan with a newbie defense class."

"How did Morgan manage that?"

"He didn't have to manage anything. Reid agreed without argument. I was surprised, actually. Maybe he's bored. We haven't had much to do for the last couple of days."

"Reid was bored enough to play sparring partner with Morgan."

JJ smirked again at Emily's obvious disbelief. "Why don't you go down and find out?"

"Maybe I will, I just finished the last of my paperwork and I was thinking about going down for a workout anyway. Want to join me?"

"No… I'm still behind on some reports."

Emily shrugged and hurried to the elevators. JJ watched her leave then hurried up to Garcia's office. It was all going exactly according to plan.

* * *

><p>"The first thing you have to know about defending yourself is that the bigger they are, the harder they fall. You also have to remember that if you don't know how to get them down it doesn't matter who's the larger one." Morgan was saying when Emily entered the gym.<p>

She barely restrained the urge to roll her eyes at Morgan's speech. She'd heard it before when he'd talked her into helping him. It always got the same reaction from at least one know-it-all in the class.

She leaned up against the wall and watched as a rather beefy cadet said the inevitable. "You're saying that toothpick can take you down," he indicated Reid who stood quietly next to Morgan.

A few of the cadet's sniggered, but most of them seemed horrified, Emily thought. Morgan glowered at the beefy cadet. "Let me introduce you cadet. This is Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid. He's a profiler and your superior, so I'd rethink your attitude."

The entire class burst out laughing. Cadet Bradley glared at anyone that turned his way while Morgan said something to Reid. Emily moved to get a better view of them, wondering just what Morgan would do next.

"Cadet, why don't you help us with the next demonstration?"

Bradley took a step backward, then sighed and moved to the center of the dark blue mat on the floor where Morgan and Reid were standing.

"Yes sir!"

Emily almost laughed as Morgan turned away from the new cadet and addressed the rest of the class. "Now… I'm sure there're more of you out there that have the same attitude as Bradley here. I'm here to tell you that it doesn't matter your size, or your sex, for that matter, in taking down an opponent. The only thing that matters is that you don't hit the ground in a fight. Mr. Bradley… Would you please grab Dr Reid from behind?"

The cadet's square face went crimson in the cheeks. He didn't move. "It's alright Mr. Bradley. Dr. Reid knows this is just a demonstration. He won't hurt you… Well, not too badly anyway."

Bradley's eyes began to bulge in his head. His face was magenta with little white spots on his cheeks.

"Go ahead," Morgan, gestured go ahead to Bradley.

Bradley finally grabbed Reid, who tried to throw him off, but couldn't budge the larger man. His inability to throw off his attacker made the big man smile. Cadet Bradley's face returned to normal and he resembled a man that thought he had it made. Unfortunately, the curve up of his lips and the light in his eyes didn't do very much for his looks.

Emily ignored him for Reid who suddenly went very still for about thirty seconds, then made his move. His opponent had relaxed, so, quick as lightening, Reid raised one foot and stomped on Bradley's foot.

The large mad howled in pain and released Reid. Emily smirked and almost clapped when Reid rammed his elbow back into the Cadet's solar plexus. Bradley dropped like a steer under the stunner in a slaughterhouse and lay coughing and gagging.

Morgan's lips were pressed tightly together. He helped Bradley to his feet as the rest of the class roared with laughter. His dark eyes caught Emily and he winked at her before turning his attention back to the class. "Alright, quiet everyone."

They all snapped to attention except for Bradley who was still bent over and wheezing. Reid stood clear while Morgan asked him if he needed a break or the infirmary.

"No sir," he wheezed. "I'm fine."

"Now, does anyone have any questions?" Morgan asked the class while Bradley went to the back of the grouping and shooting daggers at Reid at the same time.

"There has to be a trick to that," one cadet scoffed.

Morgan turned his eyes on the skinny red headed man who was thinner than Reid was.

"Why don't you help me out and we'll see." Morgan asked.

"Me against you, I don't think so."

"If you want to be in law enforcement you better know how to defend yourself," Morgan advised. "I promise I won't hurt you."

The red head with the unfortunate name of Herbert Morris joined Morgan on the mat. Emily watched Morgan teach him how to leg sweep and that targeting an attackers thighs using your knees or kicks as a weapon could take out an opponent very easily and make it nearly impossible to fight back.

"Now, I know you've all seen martial arts films and seen boxing matches. What is the reason for using your legs or arms as protection to block blows?"

Everyone looked at each other until a small woman with black hair in a ponytail and matching black eyes raised her hands. "My dad loves boxing and he said the forearms and legs can absorb more punishment than the rest of the body."

"That's right… If you have to engage an attacker and they are punching away, use your arms to defend."

Morgan had Reid help him with demonstrating leg blocks. "If your opponent comes at you with a kick raise your lead leg and use it as a compact shield, like this.

He kicked and Reid responded with a leg lift that blocked the kick. Morgan show the correct way to block a punch with forearms.

"Now, I want you to break into pairs and practice what you've seen for the rest of the class. First, make sure you glove up and get your knee and arm pads."

Emily watched for the rest of the class, thinking that Morgan made a very good teacher. He was patient, and he didn't take crap from the more cocky male cadets. Bradley was a completely different person by the end of the class, although he was still glaring at Reid as they all left.

"Well," she said going up to tap Reid on the shoulder. "That was very interesting. Since when do you fight like that?"

Reid flinched in surprise and his eyes went the size of saucers. "I've been practicing with Morgan for a while."

"Yeah… my man is pretty good if I do say so myself, if I could only get him on the weights in the gym."

"Morgan, I told you -"

"Guys, the fighting is over." Emily held up her hands like a referee at a game.

"Yeah, and I'm out of here. I have a date." Morgan smirked.

"I have to go too," Reid started to say.

"No, you can't go, I need a workout and since Morgan's already halfway out the door…"

Morgan ignored Reid as his friend tried to get his attention. Reid's head snapped around to her when she grabbed his arm, so he didn't see Morgan turn back and wink at Emily.

"Come on, there's no one here and I promise I won't hurt you too badly."

His eyebrows went up. "After that demonstration, you think you can take me."

"Getting a little cocky are we," she wondered.

"No, it's just that I was holding back and I don't want to hurt you."

"You just said the exact wrong thing. Why don't you play the attacker and I'll show you who's holding back?"

He nodded and circled behind her. For an instant before his arms came around her, she felt the heat of him on her back as though she stood in front of a raging campfire. Still, she tensed just before he touched her as though she'd been expecting the punch line to a joke but was expected to ignore it. Instead of wrapping around her waist, his arms crossed over her chest, one of his long fingers brushed the front of her left breast. She hitched in a surprised breath and he instantly released her.

"Hey," she managed to say. "You're supposed to hold on. Are you afraid of me Spencer?"

The heat from his body was right there again washing over her like an open flame. He grabbed her again and she threw him over her shoulder without effort. He flipped to the mat and landed with a thud. She jumped on top of him pinning his shoulders with her hands. His breath whooshed out after several seconds, and he didn't try to move to throw her off, he just stared at her with eyes that saw too much.

She moved, bringing one knee up to his crotch as she had been trained, but wasn't prepared to feel that somewhere in all of this the tone had changed for him. She could feel it so she said as sarcastically as she could "You made that too easy -"

He scissored his legs, flipped and reversed their positions so fast she was the one knocked breathless.

"I don't think so."

He let go of her shoulders, but something in his face kept her pinned to the mat as if his hands were on her body. The heat she'd felt when she'd stood with her body facing away from him returned and burned into her like a laser. His face and his body lowered onto her in a way that wasn't defensive. She didn't know if he realized that he was licking his lips, but she wasn't about to call attention to it because the pink of his tongue and all the possibilities of a kiss with him muddled her brain.

"Emily…" He sighed out her name like a prayer and she shivered.

Her arms wrapped around his neck and drew him down. Electricity arced between them as their mouths met in a kiss so soft and chaste it was almost like kissing in a church in front of your family at your wedding.

Something else jolted in her brain and she rolled away even though she wanted to rip into him like a lion with its prey and devour him whole. She wanted to feel his body and revel in the delight of his touch, but - "No," she said, getting to her feet and leaving him there with his breath heaving in his chest.

She didn't see his face go white as she hurried out of the gym, to the lockers and a shower as cold as she could stand it.


	12. Worth the Wait

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_A/n here's the final chapter. Thank you all for your support, and as always, many thanks to my wonderful beta REIDFANATIC. _**

**_Worth the Wait _**

Reid didn't slam his door, but he wanted to. It seemed his life was all about the wanting these days. No, that wasn't right; his life had always been about the wanting.

He left his messenger bag on a small wooden table in his tiny entryway and slipped off his shoes. When he was a kid, he thought, all he'd wanted was a normal family and normal intelligence, so he could have friends.

He debated going to the kitchen, then veered off to his little living area that housed a battered second hand couch, an easy chair, and a wooden coffee table piled with his latest finds at the library. His keyboard was set up in one corner with a bench and stacks of sheet music.

He stood in the middle of the room and for once in his life desired a television or a computer so he could stop thinking about his latest desire, Emily Prentiss.

He should have known better than to try a move on her. Every day for the last four years, he'd wondered at least once, what it would be like to kiss her. He'd finally worked up the courage, and she'd thrown it back in his face.

It was another example of his wants getting in the way of what he could have instead of what he dreamed about every day. He was a genius, and nerdy man of thirty that lived alone with books and facts. How could he think that Emily Prentiss wanted him as badly as he desired her?

Well, enough was enough; it was time to do something other than wallow. The last weeks had demonstrated to him that the only women that found him remotely attractive walked the streets to sell their bodies. That meant there had to be something wrong with him and other women could sense it, including Emily.

He looked at his watch, pulled his phone out of his pocket and shut it off. He didn't care if Hotch tried to call him back in. There was something he had to do and he didn't want work intruding.

* * *

><p>Emily pressed the speed dial for Reid's cell as she unlocked the door to her apartment. His voice telling her to leave a message set her teeth on edge.<p>

She'd tried finding him after the disaster in the gym, but he'd left before she had the chance to explain why she'd so callously spurned him.

Sergio rushed up to her, meowing loudly as she left message number six for Reid. The cat nearly tripped her moving between her legs like a sinuous snake. He rubbed his head on her left calf so she picked him up and headed into her bedroom.

"I think I really messed up," she lamented to the cat.

Sergio butted her shoulder with his head, so she scratched him just behind his ears. His purring almost drowned out the sickly pounding of her heart. "I don't know what to do."

The cat just stared at her out of dark eyes that refused to share their secrets with her. "What am I supposed to do Sergio? I don't know where he is or what he's doing. He won't answer the phone. Maybe I should go over to his place."

She sat on the edge of her bed and frowned at the cat that was falling asleep under the influence of her scratching fingers. "What if I go over there and he won't talk to me. Obviously he wants to be alone or he wouldn't ignore his phone."

She put the cat on her bed and jumped to her feet. The last time he'd ignored her phone call was in New Orleans. He'd been on Dilaudid at the time, even though no one was supposed to know, Emily knew now that they all had suspected it. No one had done anything to help him. They'd all ignored him, hoping that they were wrong about the incomprehensible changes in him.

Sergio awoke and meowed at her, but she was too busy pacing the room. What if the reason he didn't answer the phone was that he'd decided to go find a hit of Dilaudid? He had to know where to find it and she questioned if he were home, or in some alley, somewhere like a common junkie… Oh God, that couldn't be. She wouldn't let it.

_You must think pretty highly of your appeal if you think he'd give up sobriety just because you rejected him._

She ignored the voice in her head because JJ had told her how he'd reacted to her death. Hadn't she seen how angry he'd been at JJ for deceiving him? He'd admitted he'd thought of using again. Then, there was the look in his eyes in that endless and all too short moment in the gym just before he'd kissed her. She'd seen the truth in them, that he loved her, that it wasn't just infatuation or attraction. How could she be so stupid? Did it matter that the reason she'd rejected him was irrefutable?

She grabbed her coat, left Sergio staring after her. She'd go to his place and pray he was okay. He had to be okay because if he wasn't she'd never be able to forgive herself for hurting him.

* * *

><p>Reid reared back in surprise when he stepped off the elevator after his meeting at the BCC. Emily was sitting on the floor with her back to his door. He stood there staring at her and thinking that he should just get back on the elevator and leave. Surely, there was a hotel where he could stay. Then he realized that he couldn't just walk away and anyway, it was his apartment. Emily needed to leave.<p>

Emily's eyes were closed when he sighed and walked to his door. She looked like she was asleep, but that couldn't be right.

"Emily?"

She jerked, blinked her eyes and leapt up to her feet. "Spencer… I was so worried about you. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. What are you doing here?"

The irritated snip in his voice straightened her back. "I wanted to apologize, but if you're going to snap at me like an angry child, I'll just leave."

"Maybe you should leave. You made it clear that you don't like me as more than a good friend."

The hurt in his eyes cut her to her very core. "That's not true. Can we go inside? I don't want to talk about it out here."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Please Spencer, let me explain."

"You don't have to explain. I understand perfectly well."

She grabbed his arm, holding him there, or attempting to hold him while she spoke. "I came here to talk to you because I hurt you. I just didn't want everyone in the FBI to know about us."

"What are you talking about?"

He'd shifted his stance that she recognized as spoiling for a fight. She instinctively stepped back and bumped into his door.

"It's good to know that with all your brains, you can get distracted just like any of us mere mortals. So distracted," she continued when he tried to interrupt, "That you forgot about the cameras all over Quantico, including the gym."

Reid couldn't remember a time in his life when he'd felt as blindsided as he did in that minute. Everything he'd felt and thought about Emily in the last few hours seemed like the temper tantrum of a small child. He nodded as if to himself, and reached around her to open the door. She stepped aside to let him go first then followed him inside.

He shut the door, twisted the lock and set his messenger bag on the entryway table. "I'm sorry," he finally managed to say. "I wasn't thinking and -"

Emily reached out a hand and pressed it over his mouth. "I'm the one that should apologize. I just ran out on you instead of explaining."

He stepped away from her hand. "Yeah, why did you do that anyway?"

To his utter surprise, her cheeks began to go pink. "I wasn't thinking. I didn't care if the whole world was watching us. I wanted -" she swallowed audibly and her eyes shifted to a point over his shoulder. "I wanted your hands on my skin, I wanted to taste you and feel you inside me. Jesus Spencer, I was so mad for you I nearly lost my head and I could tell you were feeling the same thing. I had to be the one to see reason. I'm so sorry I hurt you."

He was staring at her as though he couldn't understand English. His eyes were huge and his face very rosy in the cheeks. "It's alright." He finally breathed out like a diver coming up for air. "I can't explain to you what happened; it was like I couldn't think except…"

He trailed off and his eyes dropped down to the floor. She took his chin in her hand and lifted his eyes up to look at her. "You don't have to explain."

"Yes, I do," he whispered. "I've never felt like that, never lost control of myself and I - I liked it. It was like getting lost in -"

He trailed off and turned from her, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Don't," she reached up and fisted her hands in his hair, yanking his face down so her mouth could devour his lips. He struggled to push her away, but she held on with more strength than he thought possible for her, so he stopped resisting and let that feeling swamp him again. His brain shut down and he let his body dictate for a change.

He found himself up against the wall shuddering at the touch of her hands under his shirt and her tongue tangled in his left ear. He couldn't breathe, his lungs burned and his groin ached. He switched their positions so that Emily's back was against the wall and tugged off her shirt.

"Spencer…" She growled in his ear and yanked down his zipper.

They slid to the floor in an untidy tangle of legs, arms, and clothing half removed. She rose over him, but he didn't want it that way so he tumbled her over on her back and devoured and was devoured until there was nothing left in his head but heat and sensation.

* * *

><p>One candle burned on his night table, its tiny golden light burning their shadows into the wall. He straddled her back and massaged her shoulders with his long fingered hands. She shivered and groaned. "You've got great hands Spencer."<p>

"So you said three times in the last four hours."

"Are you saying that I'm repeating myself," she demanded.

He brushed her hair away from her spine and began moving farther down her back relishing the smoothness of her skin. She had such wonderful skin that he wanted to spend time kissing for the next century.

"I'm not saying that," he said distractedly. "I like hearing it."

She laughed, and the groaned as his hand found another sensitive spot. "I have wanted a good massage for weeks."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah… In fact I was saying to the girls in the steam room that -"

"What?"

"Well, I really shouldn't tell you what we talked about. It was just girl talk."

He shifted again, lowering the sheet that covered her from the waist down. His fingers kneaded the base of her spine, going slowly and brushing over her bottom with light strokes. She jerked and sighed.

"What you're saying is that you were talking about men and sex."

"Yes, except not me, I didn't have a man and I wasn't having sex a couple of weeks ago."

"Oh, I see, so this is when you three hatched your plan to find me a woman."

She turned abruptly, almost knocking him to the floor and lay completely nude to his eyes, the sheet tangled around her legs.

"I didn't want anything to do with their crazy plan."

He noticed something in the glow of the candle that he hadn't seen before because he'd been very distracted. He narrowed his eyes, shifted and switched on the lamp next to the bed.

"Spencer what -"

He reached out with a hand that trembled as though he had palsy. One long finger traced its way over the pink shamrock scar on her chest. "What is this Emily?"

"It's nothing."

He glanced up and saw the truth in her eyes before she turned her head away from his gaze. "Oh god," he whispered. "He did this to you didn't he?"

"Spencer I don't want to talk about it. Please don't ruin the moment by bringing him into this room with us."

"I'm _so_ sorry."

She reached up and pulled him into a tight embrace. "It doesn't matter. Every morning when I was in Paris I'd wake up and I'd look at that brand and the scars on my abdomen, and I'd think how much I hated him, not because of what he did to me but because he threatened my family and his son. Now I look at it every morning and it reminds me of how lucky I am to have my family and friends back. He didn't win Spencer. He didn't win.

He unwrapped her arms from his neck and dropped his head so he could kiss her scars. Her stomach tensed and her breath hitched in. He looked up to see that tears spilled over her lashes.

"I always thought you were the most beautiful woman I'd ever met. Now I know that's true."

She pushed him over on his back and pulled down the sheet. He almost laughed when her mouth touched the scar on his knee. Her tongue licked it lightly. Her eyes flashed at him in the light. "I was so afraid the day you took this bullet."

"Emily…"

"It's true Spencer. Even though I was afraid for Hotch, I was terrified when you just dropped the phone and I had no idea what was going on or what happened until Morgan told me what you did. The possibility of losing Hotch was less frightening then losing you. I wish I -"

He pulled her close so her head lay on his chest and his legs tangled with hers in a wonderful jumble. "No," he shook his head. "Don't say you should have told me then. Neither of us was ready for what we have now."

She smirked up at him. "How did you get so wise Spencer Reid?"

"Well, I _am_ a genius."

She slapped his bare chest, taking exception to his calmly delivered remark. "I know! You're a genius! You don't have to tell me again."

He began stroking her hair, which he'd discovered she liked. She shifted a bit and glared up at him. "Don't think that's going to get you off the hook mister."

"Why don't we just enjoy our time together and the fact that we're both done with disastrous first dates?"

"I think that's the smartest thing you've ever said."

He wrapped her up tight to his chest thinking that for the first time, something he wanted more than life itself was right there in his arms.

**_THE END_**


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